Well today is Rosh Hashanah a Jewish High Holiday and many people including my manager did not work today in observance of it.  I spent the day at Walden Pond with family. This is a historic, state preservation site and a beautiful place to chill. I packed some chicken sandwiches and hit the Mass Pike to enjoy a perfect fall day. I hiked around a bit and found this killer secluded spot on a little spur that jutted into the pond where we got down on some sandwiches and looked for salamanders. After that I kicked it at Walden and took a dip.

I was a bit tired to cook it up tonight so we ordered in Thai food. Boston has great Thai food and the places to go are Dok Bua in Brookline and Rod Dee in Fenway. We got some good Rod Dee tonight and now it’s up to the roof deck to jam for a spell.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that when it rains it pours…I locked myself out of the house again yesterday! Ahhhhhh. Stay cool.

You know I’m crispy like apples.

G

Alright somebody book me a tour or something. I’ve been home for 2 days and I’ve managed to lock myself out of my house twice now. This is getting ridiculous. I had step out and I was going home to get into my morning jam. I get to the door of my apt and then I realize---I had taken the key off the ring while I unloaded groceries yesterday. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  Locked out! Again!

So now I’m sitting in the coffee shop by my house. Luckily, the cleaning people are coming sometime today with a key so I don’t have to bother the property manager again. This is surely an embarrassing mistake.

On with life…it’s definitely always an adjustment coming home. Being on a tour bus is a wonderful bubble. It’s stocked with food and drink and every time you’re about to get in trouble or overstay your welcome, beep beep, time to go to the next town. Isolationist’s bliss. Sorry Houdini you just can’t beat that escape act.

Now I’ve got the APT stocked with food and drink and I’m sitting out on the street. Other than that and dealing with Boston drivers (ahhhhhhhh God help me from succumbing to a terrible fit of road rage), things are great. Fall is in the air today, it’s beautiful, they are even playing my good friend Jack Johnson on the radio and damn that’s some good coffee!  Have a great day and whatever you do, don’t get locked out!!!!!!

Well its here, back to school…new things, good things, new friends, new days no more summer haaaaaze.  Going back to school means back to school for G. Love as well. Don’t think I will ever get over having to be up at 6:30 though. I’m home and practicing on the roof for a couple hours.  That’ll be me…I will be shedding nonstop right now. Now that the tour is over my mindset is all about hitting the studio and making a slamming record. That’s it. My best record yet. It’s coming. Back to the business at the playground

Peace and one love-G

Oh no. I heard it was coming, I saw it was coming and now it has come, the last day of the (hopefully 1st annual) Summer Haze Tour. Ozomatli, Slightly Stoopid and GLaSS have effectively put the phunk into peoples’ Haze all over this whole God Loving country. But now we have reached the end. We are just like the Lord of the Rings, you don’t want it to end, but end it must. We’ve got to get home and feed those babies and love those families! Get home to our girls and our stagnant apartments. Get home to full mailboxes, dirty laundry, doing dishes and paying bills. Get home to court dates, landlords, and that real tuff love. Get home to crisp fall coming, guitar shedding. I’m ready though, even though nothing beats being on stage, you just gotta come down and come back to reality for a little bit and then all of sudden you get the call, “a new tour just got booked”. Then it’s back on the bus to save the world again. That’s what we do right? (Jeeeez get a load of this guy)!  Ok fine well just save our souls with sweet rock and roll. Hopefully, we can save your souls too and we hope we get the chance.

15 minutes till sound check, just enough time to do the dreaded pack up on the bus. Get all my crap and try to stuff it into my broken-ass suitcase with the bent-ass rim. You can hear me coming a mile away in the airport. Clickity, clack, now that’s a wrap. One more time to bless the MIC tonight and I’m out…back to the lab.

We love you.  Thanks to all for coming to the show and sharing this music with us. Bring the boys back home…all of them.

G

We had a good night last night in North Carolina. I’m just waking up in the ATL. Coming here is cool because a lot of my musical family is from these parts. That family started back in 1993 when I first met my Brother Allen Jasper Thomas. Jasper and I became fast friends in Boston after we met at a show and I found out he was an MC. We were playing around the scene, just getting our feet wet and Jasper was coming around a lot and sitting in. I asked him if he could change a guitar string (which I would break at least a couple a night). I lent him this old Silvertone guitar (he renamed her “Rusted Jenny") to learn how to change strings. He not only learned to change the strings but he developed a very original and unique playing technique. Basically, he came back two weeks later playing all of these amazing Hip Hop songs that he was writing. With his long dreads, inspired conscious lyrics and convicted voice he was an amazing stage presence. In no time at all he formed his band Jasper and the Prodigal Sons and our scene was started. Both bands were tearing up Boston and Cambridge. Jasper and I wrote “This Ain’t Living” on a late summer day in Harvard Yards. Less than a year later we had a record deal with Epic. Jas got his with Geffen the following year.

My life is amazing and everyday I give thanks for it. That year in 1993 was maybe the most golden time of my life. Since then things have been a bit rocky for Jasper but he continues to make music. In fact he is the rapper on Lemonade’s “Thanks and Praise” a remake of his original cut. Through Jasper I’ve met a lot of amazing talent from ATL and Augusta, Ga (where Jas is from). We’ve been working on this new joint “That’s Real” a song we made on the bus after the last Atlanta show (check it out on youtube).  This song was written in part by my friend Taranji another musical talent from the South. Needless to say, there will be a lot of family in the house tonight and I will tear the roof off the Tabernacle!

Peace in the Middle East

G

Damn! It’s hot in the south. The South brings some of the livest crowds around. Last night at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC the crowd was off the chain. It was crazy energy and both sets were siiiiick. When the crowd goes off it always makes the bands go off--no question!

Tonight we play outside of Raleigh, NC. I spent a lot of time down near here in Sanford, NC at my Grandparents’ house, rest their soul. The venue is right on a little lake that reminds me of the pond down the road from my Mimi and Grandpa’s house. We are working on this song called “Grandmother” about those times.

“Jars for the tadpoles and the frogs from the lake, mind your manners at the table won’t you boy for heavens sake”

My Grandma used to make the best blueberry pie, coffee cake and my favorite mocha cake…mmmmmm I can almost taste it now. I remember the smell of their house and Mimi was always cooking it up or we would play the board game Sorry together. Anyways, being down here brings back good memories…

Only 3 days left of the Summer Haze tour so get on out!

See you tonight

Peace in the Middle East!

G

We had a sick show last night at Summer Stage in Central Park. NYC definitely showed up big time for the Summer Haze tour.  The sunset slot was right on time and our set featured a sit in with blues legend John Hammond. We performed “Tore Down” the single from John’s record “Push Comes to Shove”. Another highlight of our set has become our new song “City Living”. This song came off of a Jimmy Jazz bass line in the studio and its pretty banging. It’s got that feel good groove and we have been featuring the Philadelphonic horns on it. Actually, the Philadelphonic horns are in fact a combo of the Slightly Stoopid and Ozo horn section! Shhhhhhh

Anyway we hit the town up a little after the show but the concert was the best part of NYC last night. I want to thank everyone for showing up with such a great vibe. Today is our last day off and then only 4 more shows. This summer is fading fast. I need some front porch lounging...I hope all of you get a chance to savor those good summer vibes for this next week then its back to school!

Peace and One Love!

G